Cancer has been one of the ten leading causes of death worldwide in recent years. For example, cancer accounted for 7.9 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2007. According to a 2008 report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization (WHO), the burden of cancer doubled globally between 1975 and 2000, and cancer is expected to become the leading cause of death worldwide in 2010.
Hematological cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other cancers related to blood and blood-producing organs, are the fifth most commonly occurring cancers and the second leading cause of cancer death. Despite the recent development of novel anti-cancer agents, the current therapy of hematological cancers is still dominated by using drugs for the treatment of solid tumors.
N-(5-tert-butyl-isoxazol-3-yl)-N′-{4-[7-(2-morpholin-4-yl-ethoxy)imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]benzothiazol-2-yl]phenyl}urea or AC220 is known for its anti-tumor activity. Treatment of the various cancers with AC220 has been proposed in the literature. Various dosing regimens have been reported, for example, see, U.S. Patent Application Pub. Nos. US 2007/0232604, US 2009/0123418, US 2009/0131426, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
There is a continuing need for developing therapy for proliferative diseases, including cancer.